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Could we replace cement as the vital element in concrete some day?\u00a0We look at two alternative answers to this question.<\/p>\n Portland cement dominates in the construction and road building industries. From an environmental point of view, cement is not the perfect solution. The cement industry accounts up to 7% of the world\u2019s carbon dioxide emissions. For every 600\u00a0kg of cement, approximately 400\u00a0kg of CO2<\/sub>\u00a0is released into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n It is possible to recycle concrete by crushing it and using the gravel e.g. in road construction. However, the demand for new concrete is huge and increasing. According to The Washington Post<\/a>, China used more cement between 2011 and 2013 than the U.S. used in the entire 20th\u00a0Century. The worldwide production of cement has increased from 3.3 billion tons in 2010 to 4.2 in 2016. Even that is not enough; shortage of cement is a real problem in some countries.<\/p>\n The following endeavors introduce new ways to make concrete from industrial by-products.<\/p>\n During his Ph.D. studies at the University of Arizona, David Stone<\/strong> came up with an idea to use iron carbonate as a key ingredient for a cement replacement.\u201cThe whole process is green,\u201dDavid told in an interview<\/a> for PBS News Hour. \u201cThis is a carbon-negative process that helps to trap the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.\u201d The process can use a by-product from steel mills. \u201cI discovered that there was this material called steel dust that is not recycled, so it typically goes straight to the landfill.\u201d Silica is added to the mix, and that comes from ground-up glass.<\/p>\nThe Problems with Cement<\/h2>\n
IronKast\u2019s Ferrocrete\u2122<\/h2>\n